Hanging at a local coffee shop was a small sign saying:

"Imagine a portrait of a loved one."

This simple statement prompted a call asking if I would paint a portrait from a photo. Turns out the daughter wanted the portrait of her mother who had passed several years ago as a Christmas present for her father. When the daughter and I met, she gave me a box full of photos. The photo I was to paint was his favorite taken while they were courting. Because of the father's macular degeneration, the daughter wanted the 5x7 image enlarged to 18x24 inches. Also she wanted the brown sepia colors changed to reflect brilliant blue eyes and peachy white skin she remembered and what I could glean from the other photos she gave me. 

I was so incredibly pleased with how the portrait turned out and was so confident they would be too that I was surprised when it took two weeks for her to look at the portrait. When she did, she texted:

"Glowing with beauty and energy! Love it!"

Midway through landscape painting, I often felt lost and confused. This feeling of confusion was heightened by the fact I rarely lost my way with portraits. If I could find my way with portraits, why could I not find my way with landscapes since both use value and color changes to create lines and shapes? The mystery continued for several years until I took Matt Smith's online course offered by Tucson Art Academy Online.

I do not intend to reteach what Matt Smith so eloquently taught in his online course except to say that in Module 2 Matt discussed and demonstrated establishing a horizon line, perspective lines and proportional shapes. In general terms, I learned how to:

-Set a course

-Plot a path

-Determine the direction I am going

-Find my way

-Generate clarity about what I wanted to paint before I painted it

-Find my limits and boundaries

-Create guidelines for myself

Below are practice drawings from landscape photos taken with my phone while driving from Albuquerque to Phoenix. It is from these drawings I realized how horizon, perspective and proportion lines give landscapes as distinctive and unique an appearance as the eyes, nose and mouth give a portrait! I no longer feel lost. I have direction.

During my high school years in Montana, I often visited an elderly neighbor.  Not only did we develop a friendship, but I can see now how she influenced my eye and passion for art.  Through experiences in her art filled home and beautifully landscaped yard, I learned that the environment you live in makes a difference in how you feel.  In addition, she often took me to an art gallery named "Gallery 85." There she bought me the Takehara Tea Pot above. I treasure it to this day not only for its simple, subtle, and unobtrusive beauty, but for the love I feel every time I use it.